The Town Council is very pleased to announce that Dorset Council has confirmed that the Town Council’s application to designate the parish of Swanage as a neighbourhood area has been accepted. Area designation is a legal requirement which is required to allow the Council to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan for the area.
In previous meetings held by the Council to discuss neighbourhood planning, attention had been drawn to the fact that the Swanage Local Plan, which had been adopted in June 2017, could face a challenge if it were found to be out of date, and would ultimately be replaced by the Dorset Local Plan. Town Councillors therefore felt that it would be appropriate to designate the whole of the Parish of Swanage as a neighbourhood area, being in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as well as having two designated Conservation Areas (the Swanage and Herston Conservation Areas).
Details of Dorset Council’s decision can be found at:
A meeting to consider next steps will be arranged in due course, and will include the exploration of opportunities for grant funding to pay for professional expertise to help with preparing a plan.